Craziest golf shot you’ve ever hit?

[G56788]

Several years ago I was playing with my boss and a couple co-workers. We came to a short par-4 with a dogleg that started about 200 yards out. I pulled a 5-wood planning to leave it at the corner of the dogleg. I hit it so thin that it hit the round tee marker 10 yards up, shot 30 feet in the air, went over our heads, hit the road 20 yards behind us and bounced into a field. I still catch flak for that shot. 

What’s the craziest shot the rest of you all have hit?

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Crazy good or crazy bad? Have a lot in the bad category. 

However good - par 4 3rd hole at my old home course is a severe dog leg right. The tee box points you left and there is hazard, trees, bald Eagles all on the right. Going long more woods and a bunker. Smart play is 6 iron to the top of the hill where it's flat then 6 iron down to the green, but during a practice round (wish I had shot tracers) I took 3 wood and roped a draw Borderline hook down and around the curve just perfect and ended up rolling to the front edge. Conditions were dry! So going over the trees and hazard would just lead to more trouble and likely a lost ball. It was so cool to watch and I was never able the repeat it. 

Ahh good times!

[Limping Lefty]

I'm going with crazy good.  Playing the 16th hole at my home course, interclub matchplay event (Barton cup for any irish readers), match was all square, hole is a roughly 400 yard par 4, plays a slight dog leg right, I'm a lefty with a fade, into a massive wind in April, cold temps, hit a stone cold killer 5 wood into 3 foot from about 180 yards out.  What made it so sweet was the combination of matchplay circumstance, how that hole sets up (miss left is dead and possibly ob), had to start the ball right of the green, allow it fade back over a nasty bunker, not over cut it, not go long (also dead), opponents were already on the green so literally felt pivotal to the match.  Can still feel how the ball felt off the clubhead and how the swing felt today, use that memory lots when I'm under pressure.. 

 

Oh, crazy bad.  Club championship, final round, I was in the 2nd to last group going out which was way above expectations / handicap range as I had a really good first round.  Shanked a ball so far left off the 2nd tee, playing an iron for safety, that I think my ball hit a road 2 roads over from the ob limit, passing over a childrens party in a back garden en route.   Safe to say the old confidence didn't really recover for the following 16 holes. 

[CarlH]

2 come to mind:  The first is similar to the OP.  I hit my driver so thin that it struck the stone tee marker on the tees just forward of ours.  All four of us in my group were swiveling our heads looking for where the ball might have deflected.  What seemed like a full minute later (but obviously was mere seconds), we hear the ball bouncing on the road some 50-75 yards behind us.

The second is similar but with much better results.  On a par 3 over a pond, I hit a thin 8 iron that went low and was pond-ward bound.  The pond had a fountain feature that wasn't working at the time.  The ball bounced off the metal ring and up the hill onto the green, leaving me an 8 foot putt for birdie.  I drained it for the skin much to the shouts of displeasure from my playing partners.

Wildest one that I ever witnessed came from a 20 something handicap player who hit his tee shot on a par 3 into the tree to the left of the green.  The ball responded like a pinball, ricocheting off 3 or 4 limbs until it fell to the ground on the green and rolled into the cup for his first HIO!  

[GolfSpy TCB]

I will go with a shot that started as standard bad, and ended up crazy good.  

Playing at one of my local courses, Par 5 9th hole that runs down a major 4 lane roadway to the right of the hole.  My tee shot was a straight push (lined up wrong I guess) that soared over the treeline, just to the right of the fence bordering the course.   My ball hit on the sidewalk, and proceeded to bound down the roadway 3 or 4 BIG bounces between various oncoming cars driving down the road until it (evidently) caught the edge of the curb and kicked straight left.  I lost sight of it, and assumed my two stroke OB penalty was eminent and hit my provisional (a smother hook, as one would expect after losing the previous shot right and OB).  I drove down the cart path to see if I could find my ball and saw one in the middle of the fairway WAY down the hole... and to my extreme surprise, it was my first ball... 475 yards from the tee, in the middle of fairway... complete with several asphalt scuffs.  I ended up reaching in two, and two putting for birdie.  

[TR1PTIK]

For the crazy good, I'll simply refer to an old post from the SoTD thread.  I certainly have others but this was probably the best and even led to a par save.

 

Posted January 20, 2020

Didn't play even close to my normal standards today, but somewhere around the 12th or 13th hole I finally "found it". Anyway, after tugging my tee shot left on 15 I decided to play the hero shot (not like my day was going to get much worse). So, standing 200 yards away under a tree left of the cart path and needing to punch something super low underneath a low branch roughly 20 yards in front of me, I opted for a stinger 3-wood. I wanted the ball to start low and rise because not far beyond the branch I needed to go under, there was a mound I needed to go over. Instinctively, I gripped down, placed the ball in toward the back of my stance and hit down. THWACK! The ball took off like a rocket exactly as hoped and peeled right avoiding the left bunker and finishing just a couple paces off the front of the green. I used the putter from there to get within 2' and finished for par.    

Had to do an edit to update with a picture of the actual spot this was played from after teeing it up on this course again today. Hope I never return to this spot because it’s guaranteed I can’t do it again. 

 

On the bad side of things, I don't know that I've had anything remarkable happen like what the OP shared. Just a bunch of shanks, and thins, and fats, that didn't really go anywhere or do much of anything. However, there is a guy I play golf with sometimes who is now referred to as Almost Killed James so.... 

[MWL_9]

Long Par 5 that goes up hill a little, flattens out then down a big hill to the green.  I didn't hit a great tee shot so I couldn't go for the green.  I grabbed a mid-iron to just hit a layup.  I pushed it right into what I thought would be the rough.  We searched and couldn't find it...odd, but it was wet so maybe plugged.  There was a cart path 5-10' from where we saw the ball come down, but definitely didn't see a big bounce off of the path.  I tossed down another ball and we played it out.  We finish up the hole and are driving to the next tee when I find my ball about 25 yards past the green.  It must have rolled onto the cart path and then rode the cart path over 225 yards down the hill.

[Jim Shaw]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

I will go with a shot that started as standard bad, and ended up crazy good.  

Playing at one of my local courses, Par 5 9th hole that runs down a major 4 lane roadway to the right of the hole.  My tee shot was a straight push (lined up wrong I guess) that soared over the treeline, just to the right of the fence bordering the course.   My ball hit on the sidewalk, and proceeded to bound down the roadway 3 or 4 BIG bounces between various oncoming cars driving down the road until it (evidently) caught the edge of the curb and kicked straight left.  I lost sight of it, and assumed my two stroke OB penalty was eminent and hit my provisional (a smother hook, as one would expect after losing the previous shot right and OB).  I drove down the cart path to see if I could find my ball and saw one in the middle of the fairway WAY down the hole... and to my extreme surprise, it was my first ball... 475 yards from the tee, in the middle of fairway... complete with several asphalt scuffs.  I ended up reaching in two, and two putting for birdie.  

I was thinking about this question and until I saw your story I was going to say, for me, the craziest shot that pops up on occasion is a 15-20 yard chip shot that I visualize as a nice high soft shot, lands fairly close to the hole and stops and the ball actually comes out low with a 2 hop and stop near the hole, however now I remember a similar shot i hit years ago, a two lane road runs along the 4th hole at my course I grew up on, hit the ball out on the road from the tee, bounced on the road, hit a telephone pole on the opposite side of the road and back in the fairway, easy peasy lol

[G56788]

11 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Crazy good or crazy bad? Have a lot in the bad category. 

I didn’t even think about including crazy good shots when I started this topic. That was a good twist. Thanks APH!

So I’ve been trying to think of a crazy good shot to include, but I have none that compare to the ones others have shared. Most of mine fall into the “I mishit it perfectly” category like the time I short-sided myself on a par 3 in a tournament and left myself with a pitch over a bunker to a tight pin and a green running away from me. Hitting it within 20 feet would have been a good shot. I hit way behind the ball but had enough speed and bounce on my club to make okay contact. It barely cleared the bunker, took one hop and rolled to two feet. Or the time I pull-hooked a drive perfectly around the edge of a lake guarding the left side of a dogleg leg, got a good bounce and ended up 60 yards out when the rest of my group was at least 150 away with “perfect” drives. I usually tell the latter story to support my ridiculous claim that Bryson stole his course strategy from me. 

[Siamese Moose]

Mine is a putt, nearly 30 years ago and my wife still won't let me forget it! 

The 5th hole at Shawnee Lookout (west of Cincinnati, now closed) was a short par 3 over a lake, that used to have a three tiered green with a severe back-to-front slope. The pin was in the dead center of the middle tier, and my tee ball rolled back to the front edge. Knowing the green is very slow and severely uphill, I whacked it pretty good, and immediately knew I overdid it. It screamed past the hole, up onto the third tier, then slowly started back. You know what's coming...it went in! It was probably a 40' putt that went 30' past the hole, so I made a 40 footer with a 100 foot attempt.

[GolfSpy_APH]

12 hours ago, G56744 said:

I didn’t even think about including crazy good shots when I started this topic. That was a good twist. Thanks APH!

So I’ve been trying to think of a crazy good shot to include, but I have none that compare to the ones others have shared. Most of mine fall into the “I mishit it perfectly” category like the time I short-sided myself on a par 3 in a tournament and left myself with a pitch over a bunker to a tight pin and a green running away from me. Hitting it within 20 feet would have been a good shot. I hit way behind the ball but had enough speed and bounce on my club to make okay contact. It barely cleared the bunker, took one hop and rolled to two feet. Or the time I pull-hooked a drive perfectly around the edge of a lake guarding the left side of a dogleg leg, got a good bounce and ended up 60 yards out when the rest of my group was at least 150 away with “perfect” drives. I usually tell the latter story to support my ridiculous claim that Bryson stole his course strategy from me. 

I try to be a glass half full and have s better time remembering crazy good vs crazy bad.. even tho there have been a lot of crazy bad shots. That's just part of the game!

 

[bumpandrun]

Crazy good - playing in a CGA 2-man best ball at Pinehurst #8, I hit a long pull on a par 3 that left me at the bottom of a hill at the back left of a highly elevated green. I couldn't see the green surface at all and I was in a thick rough. The pin was front left and the green was hard as a rock with a good six feet of slope back to front. Virtually impossible shot. My partner (who is much better than me) missed the green short left (short-sided) with an almost impossible shot to get close. We were resigned to me being over par and him having to hit a long putt for par. What I'm about to tell you is what I was told. I was so far below the green I couldn't get to a point to see what happened until it was over. I hit a flop shot almost straight up. It landed on the fringe which slowed it enough that it started trickling down the green, slowly picking up speed. It rolled a good 50+ft down the green, hit the pin dead center and fell in for birdie. We won the tournament by one stroke and qualified for the CGA championship.

Crazy bad - Playing the Grandover Resort West course, I was playing a par 5 (#12 for those that know the course). The cart path runs up the right side and is all up hill (with several curves) to the landing area (well above the fairway) after crossing a small bridge just past the tee box. I pushed a solid contact drive right and it landed just right of the path at the top of the hill and bounced left. We couldn't see where it ended up. As the next guy was about to hit one of the other guys told him to stop and pointed at the cart path. My ball was coming back down the path. The rough was high enough to create a wall on both sides of the path so the ball couldn't roll off the path. It ended up in a crack between boards on the bridge just past the tee box. About a 240 yard drive that ended up 20 yards from the tee box and unhittable.

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[Redhawk]

I was playing a short par 4 at my course and had a 100 yard shot to the elevated green. I skulled a gap wedge that was traveling 100 MPH over the green and was headed to the paved road well over the green!!! Well, it hit a large dump truck that was parked on the side of that road, bounced well into the air and landed back on the green!! I then putted and made the darn putt for a birdie!!! I laughed so hard!!

["Mr. 72"]

Simply put, I hit a blocked cut off the tee with my driver and knocked a squirrel out of a tree.

["Mr. 72"]

The crazy shot I ever SAW....  I saw a friend of mine top a 3 wood so bad, that the ball popped straight up in the air and then hit the ball again during his follow through knocking it 40 yards or so straight down the fairway.

[Pvicary]

I’ll go with crazy good. A shot on the par 3 island green replica at the World Golf Village. It was a few week after the Village opened and they had televised a challenge contest for a million Delta air miles. The pin was back, 131 yards into the sun. I hit the shot high and directly into the sun so I could not see the ball. I asked the attendant there to validate the shots and she said she thought it flew the green into the water. Knowing how far I could hit the 9 I questioned her observation. She volunteered to check it while I retreated to the IMAX theater and take a look at some of the early exhibits in the building . When I walked out I saw the attendant waving feverishly. I walked over and sure enough the ball had gone in the hole for an ace, and the huge prize that went with it. I no longer have the clubs but still have the ball.

[spol0]

I laid up on a par 5 to what I thought was about 120 yard, when I shot it with my range finder I missed the flag and shot behind the green on accident (stupid mistake and first round using a range finder) which said it was 140 downhill. I hit a PW about 20 yards over the green, it hit a wood retaining wall and bounced back onto the green to about 10 feet and I made Birdie. Best worst shot ive ever hit. 

[CarlH]

This thread reminds me of my submarine days when we'd sit around telling tall tales.  No sooner than one guy told a wild story, the next guy would say "Sh**, that's nothing; one time......." and tell an even taller tale.  Not saying these stories are far fetched, at all....love'm!  Keep 'em coming!

[pjaxx88]

Crazy bad followed by crazy good.

Horrible slice off the tee to land 5ft behind players on next tee.

Second shot 156 yds in with tree 3ft in front of me and other trees 50yds out from green.

Hit punch 5i keeping it low under the tree and just skims the others and rolls to 2ft for a birdie.

[BlackjackMWV]

Acoaxet Club, Westport, MA 14th hole, par 4 433 yds after slicing my drive 50 yards off to the right of the fairway.  I could not see the pin, down hill, green on the water (harbor), I hit a 224 yard five iron for an eagle.  All I saw was my playing partner at the top of the hill in the middle of the fair putting his hands in the air and dropping his club.  My best and craziest shot ever.

[GPS111]

About 30 years ago but vivid like it was yesterday.  I was stymied behind a 120 foot tall tree on a very short 300 yd par 4 about 50 yds from the green.  Only safe shot was backwards and sideways so I thought what the heck - no money on it so tried what would typically be seen as a stupid shot.  I opened up an 8 iron as wide as I could and swung as hard as I could.  Dust and dirt everywhere but the ball came  straight up and went over the top of the tree tracking the pin all the way.  It landed a foot from the hole.  My partners said it tracked straight up and down both sides of the tree in an almost vertical arc like it was a blanket draped on the tree. The fall almost straight down embedded half the ball and it stayed where it landed.  A birdie - just like I planned it! .  I never tried it again but who knows....!

[3putter]

About 20 years ago we were playing on a cold winter day. The weather had been well below freezing for several weeks. We were on a dogleg left par 5 and I hit a good tee shot and went for the green in 2. The ball faded too much and landed on a frozen pond about 5 feet from the edge. After trying to establish that the ice was thick enough to stand on, I asked my playing partner to stand close by to hand me a club to pull me out in case the ice broke. I was lucky and hit my pitch shot onto the green and birdied the hole.

[Dweed]

Crazy good was a Hole in One 5 years ago. 142 yards.

Crazy Opps!  50 years ago playing on our HS golf team, I was playing in a match at a totally unfamiliar course.  First tee was elevated and the hole directly parallel and next to a 6 lane highway and the tee box faced oncoming traffic. Coming out of the country to the suburbs was a shock in itself to the system. Playing next to a highway another. As you might guess, my opening drive sliced bad...into the windshield of a cement truck.  Thank God there was a tall cyclone fence between us.